Austin Now the First Texas City to Mandate Paid Sick Leave

I've been blessed by the fact that most businesses I've worked for offered paid sick leave, but that's not the case for a lot of people in Texas (and other states). According to the Austin Statesman, Austin just became the first city in Texas to actually make it a mandatory requirement to offer sick leave for all non-government employers. The law goes into effect October 1, 2018.

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Houston Public Media reports that any business with 15+ employees must offer eight days of paid sick leave per year. Companies with 6-to-15 employees will have to offer six days of paid sick leave and if you have a business with 5 or less people, you'll have to offer sick days by October, 2020.

Businesses who do not comply could be subjected to a fine by summer of next year.

While there are no federal laws that require employers to provide paid sick leave, 10 states and varying cities throughout the US have local laws in place. Now Texas has a city like that. [National Conference of State Legislatures]

This could mean more cities will follow suit in the lone star state. What's your take? Does your work provide sick leave? Do you think it would help if it did?